BREAKING: Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa Workers Launch 3-Day Strike

Vancouver, BC – Workers at Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa walked off the job early this morning and are setting up picket lines.

The resort and spa workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 40, are holding a 3-day strike over the busy summer weekend. This comes after bargaining broke off yesterday afternoon with little progress. Workers are striking for fair wages and a reversal of concessions made during the pandemic.

Hotel room revenues in the Fraser Valley Regional District, which includes Harrison Hot Springs, have grown 42% since 2019, yet workers have not shared equitably in those gains.

“Harrison Hot Springs Resort workers want management to invest in providing top quality jobs. Low wages, short staffing and workload issues affect morale and guest service. Workers are fed up, which is why they’re taking limited strike action,” said Zailda Chan, President of UNITE HERE Local 40.

Harrison Hot Springs Resort is owned by Aldesta Hotel Group, a subsidiary of Salience Global Holdings, which also owns Fairmont Hot Springs Resort, luxury waterfront resorts, and two islands along the Great Barrier Reef.

Contact: Michelle Travis, [email protected], 778-960-9785

Press Release: YVR Airport Concession Workers Launch Strike for $25 Living Wage

Vancouver, BC — Over 200 food workers at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) walked out on strike early this morning to demand a $25 living wage.  The workers are employed by SSP America, which operates over a dozen food outlets at YVR.

Food attendants, servers, cooks, dishwashers and others set up picket lines at 4:30AM this morning to inform travelers about the one-day strike action.  The action comes after workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 40, turned down the company’s latest offer in negotiations. They are negotiating their first collective agreement.

The Vancouver Airport Authority is attempting to limit workers’ attempt to picket inside the airport. The Union is asking the Labour Board to direct the Airport Authority to permit such activity, which was permitted in 2010 during a previous strike action.

Airport concession workers are among the lowest paid staff at YVR. Although YVR is a certified living wage employer, the average hourly wage for concession staff is $18.27, or $7.41 less than Metro Vancouver’s living wage.  Eighty percent of concession workers are women, many of them immigrants, according to a recent survey.  Thousands have petitioned YVR to expand its living wage policy to apply to concession staff.

SSP Group is one of the largest food operators at Vancouver International Airport and operates thirteen outlets: Freshii, Thai Hang, Urban Crave, Whistler Brewhouse, LIFT Bar and Grill, Church’s Chicken, Sal y Limón, Banh Shop, Nourish, Dirty Apron, Tru Burger, Rice Tales, and El Chiquito.

 

Contact: Michelle Travis, [email protected], 778-960-9785

Press Release: YVR attempts to limit food service workers’ free speech rights on Airport Workers Day

For Immediate Release

Vancouver, BC – YVR marks the inaugural national “Airport Workers Day” by challenging workers’ free speech at the BC Labour Board.

Airport concession workers at SSP Group-operated outlets have served 72-hour strike notice and already taken limited strike action. The workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 40, may take further strike action which could impact thirteen airport food outlets.

The Vancouver Airport Authority is attempting to limit workers’ attempt to picket inside the airport and notify travellers of which restaurants are on strike, in the event that a strike is called.  The Union is asking the Labour Board to direct the Airport Authority to permit such activity, which was permitted in 2010 during a previous labour action.

“It is hypocritical of YVR to be celebrating workers’ important contributions on the one hand, but then denying them a living wage and their ability to protest about that wage,” said Zailda Chan, President of UNITE HERE Local 40.

Contact: Michelle Travis, [email protected], 778-960-9785

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Harrison Hot Springs Resort workers vote in favour of strike action

For Immediate Release

Vancouver, BC — Workers at Harrison Hot Springs Resort have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action, with over 96% voting yes.  The workers are members of UNITE HERE Local 40.

With inflation heating up again, resort staff, including hotel room attendants, front desk agents, servers, cooks, dishwashers, spa staff, and others, are calling for fair wages, fair scheduling, medical benefit improvements, banquet tip transparency, and a decent pension. Guests can pay over $300 a night to stay, yet workers have not had a raise in a year.

The workers’ collective agreement expired in May.  The Union filed a bad faith bargaining charge after the company failed to respond to requests to bargain in February.  The Union and the company have held several bargaining dates and will resume negotiations this week.

During the pandemic, workers put their health and safety on the line to keep the hotel running. They agreed to modest wage increases and limited concessions on overtime and vacations to meet the challenges of the public health crisis. However, the resort experienced a rebound in leisure travel much sooner than the province’s urban hotel markets and continues to have a bustling business.

Harrison Hot Springs Resort is owned by Aldesta Hotel Group, a subsidiary of Salience Global Holdings.  Last year, Aldesta acquired the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort for $40 million.

 

Contact: Michelle Travis, [email protected], 778-960-9785

 

Press Release: Richmond hotel strikers injured, narrowly avoiding shuttle van crash

Richmond, BC – Striking Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport Hotel workers suffered injuries when they narrowly escaped being run over by a shuttle driver who suddenly drove through the bushes behind the hotel and crashed into two other vehicles yesterday afternoon.

An Ace Charters Vancouver shuttle van, which was parked in the employee parking lot of the Radisson Blu hotel at the time, lurched suddenly through the bushes behind the hotel, crashed into a second vehicle, and careened forward across Lysander Lane until it hit a third car parked at a nearby charging station.

Three female hotel room attendants who are on strike at Radisson Blu were walking along the sidewalk of Lysander Lane when they heard a noise and saw the vehicles coming toward them.  They ran to avoid being struck but suffered injuries.  One of the strikers fell to the ground to avoid the oncoming vehicles. A second woman was injured when one of the vehicles grazed her ankle.  The two women went to hospital for examination; the third woman was unharmed. The RCMP and an ambulance were called to the scene.

“We heard a loud noise and saw a car coming from the bushes. We ran as fast as we could.  A big black car came toward me, and the tire hit my ankle. It was so scary, we didn’t know what to do,” said Vent Reddy, a striking room attendant who has worked at the hotel for over forty years.

“What happened here was reckless and put workers’ lives at risk.  Why is Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport allowing Ace Charters to park their vehicles in the hotel employees’ parking area during a strike?  Ace Charters could have killed someone.  They should no longer be allowed to operate out of the Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport Hotel,” said Zailda Chan, President of UNITE HERE Local 40.

Last month, the BC Labour Board issued a cease and desist order against the Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport’s majority owner for threatening and intimidating strikers on the picket line. The hotel has repeatedly breached the labour code by using impermissible replacement workers. The workers have been on strike for three years.

 

Contact: Michelle Travis, [email protected], 778-960-9875